Slidable pawl ratchet-type wrench



Nov. 21, 1961 c. KOSTKA 3,009,372

SLIDABLE PAWL. RATCHET-TYPE WRENCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1958 WM llmmmmummg INVENTOR. Charles Kostku Arroa gv Nov. 21, 1961 c. KOSTKA 3,009,372

SLIDABLE PAWL RATCHET-TYPE WRENCH Filed May 14, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 89' 94 F IG- 2. 96 mo g I I 2 INVENTOR.

Charles Kostka if/fww ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,009,372 SLIDABLE PAWL RATCHET-TYPE WRENCH Charles Kostka, Bronx, N.Y. (4 Dock St., Mount Vernon, N.Y.) Filed May 14, 1958, Ser. No. 735,275 2 Claims. (Cl. Sit-58.4)

This invention relates to gearless, reversible ratchet type socket Wrenches. I

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a gearless, reversible ratchet socket wrench in which a positive locking action of a handle with a wheel that carries the socket, is effected each time the socket is to be turned and when unlocked without the use of the handle as when the nut or bolt is loose permits the wheel to be freely turned with the fingers to initially tighten the nut or bolt or to permit the nut or bolt to be finally released.

It is another object of the invention to provide a gearless, reversible ratchet wheel socket wrench in which a positive locking action of the handle may be effected with the socket wheel when simple longitudinal axial sliding movement of the handle toward the wheel is effected to lock the parts and which can be released by similar withdrawal movement of the handle from the wheel to allow the handle to take up the next tightening or loosening position and while the wheel is being held by the nut or bolt.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a gearless, ratchet wheel socket wrench in which the engagement of the handle with the wheel for positive turning action is effected merely by the slide on the handle and operable by the thumb to place the slide into locking engagement with one of the notches of the wheel or release the same by the thumb from the notches to permit the return movement of the handle.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a gearless, reversible, ratchet, wheel socket wrench in which a single ratchet spring-biased slide member is used for the engagement of the handle with the socket wheel and in which the slide member easily enters a hole in the wheel and is relieved on the end at one side to be free of the holes on return movement and in which the slide member is reversible by merely turning the lock about its axis in the handle and in the ratchet wheel hole to change the direction of ratcheting of the handle over the wrench wheel and wherein the slide ratchet can be held in a neutral position out of engagement with the socket wrench wheel to free the wheel so it can be turned by the thumb and fingers as upon loosening or initial tightening of the nut or bolt.

It is a still further object of the invention'to provide a gearless, socket wheel wrench having a positive locking action in which the, handle parts are essentially one piece or of two pieces so connected and fashioned together, that the handle is virtually a solid one with the wheel and has little chance of breakage-due to heavy strains placed upon the handle.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a gearless, positively locking ratchet wheel wrench having the above objects in mind, which is simple in construction,

the invention, reference may be had to the following de- 1 tailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which v FIGURE 1. is a top plan view of one form of the .wrench in which the locking action is 'effected with a deeply notched wheel by a thumb slide on the' handle,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the wrench shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the wrench shown in FIG. 1 and broken away at line 33 thereof,

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the wrench taken on line 44 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of the wrench taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2,

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view of another form of the wrench in which the positive locking action of the handle at the wheel is as illustrated, effected by sliding the handle toward and from the wheel to disengage the handle, 1

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the form of the invention shown in FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of the same form taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 7,

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 99 of FIG. 6,

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of still another form of a ratchet wheel wrench in which the ratchet lock member enters holes in the periphery of the wheel and is adaptable for positive locking action in one direction or the other while permitting ratchet action in the opposite'direction and which can be retained in its neutral position,

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the ratchet wrench shown in FIG. 10,

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal sectionalview of the wrench shown in FIG. 10 and taken on line 1212 thereof,

FIG. 13 is a transverse sectional view of this wrench taken on line 1313 of FIG. 11, i

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a still further form of a wrench having a ratchet member engageable with peripheral holes of the ratchet wheel and which can be retained in neutral position,

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary side elevational view of this wrench shown in FIG. 14, and i v i FIG. 16 is a transverse sectional view of this same wrench taken on line 1616 of FIG. 15. V

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 1 to 5, 21 represents a handle having knurlings 22, 23, 24 and 25 for the purpose of effecting a good hand grip thereon. The forward end of this handle is bifurcated to provide wheel-supporting formations 26 and 27 and has an elongated slot 28 therewithin. The formations 26 and 27 respectively have openings 29 and 30, FIG. 4, the opening 30 being larger than the opening 29 and vertically aligned with one another to receive a shaft 39 that has a socket-engaging head 40 with a detent ball 41-therein. To a square central portion 42 of the shaft 39, there is fixed a ratchet wheel 43 having notches 44 in its periphery and hand-operating projections "46 knurled'o'n their ends to provide a good hand grip for the free hand turning of the wheel 43 when initially tightening or finally loosening the nut or bolt. The head 40 has a flange 47 that'is held against the underface of the-formation arid on the reduced end of the shaft 39, there is secured a retaining ring 48 to hold the shaft 39 within theformations 26 and 27.

' Slidable upon the portions 26 and 27 is a ratchet lock pin 49 having a head 50 on its underside and a retaining ring 51 fixed to its upper end. Under the ret'ainingring 51 is a slide plate 52 having holes 53 and 54 to receive a ball detent'55 .biased toward the underside of the plate 52 by a spring 56 that reacts against a plug stop 57. By forcing the lock pin 49 forwardly by the thumb while holding the handle,'the pin 49 will enter one of the notches 44 in the wheel 43 to lock the same with the handle. The detent ball 55 will at this time enter the opening 53 of the plate 52. To release the wheel 43 for rotation 0 and free wheeling, the locking pin 49 is slid rearwardly in the elongated slot 28 and held in its retracted position by the entry of the ball detent 53 into hole 54 of the slide plate 52.

It will now be apparent that when the pin 49 is in locking engagement with the wheel that a positive turning action can be effected with the wrench. The wrench when the wheel is interlocked with the handle will provide in effect a solid unitary wrench with no concern as to gear teeth being stripped from a gear wheel. The notches 44 are sufiiciently deep that there is no chance of the pin 49 slipping therefrom when great force is used. A solid wrench is provided in effect. To release the wheel, the pin 49 is retracted and the wheel with the socket can be hand turned freely by its knurled projectlons 46 to hand tighten the nut or bolt or to finally loosen the same.

A ratchet type of wrench has accordingly been provided which can be used as a solid wrench yet can be adapted for manual ratchet action.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 6 to 9, 60 represents a handle that has an integral bifurcated formation 61 with a slot 62 in which a large ratchet wheel 63 is disposed. Extending through the inner end of the slot 62 and Secured to the bifurcated formation is a pin 64, that has ends 64 and 64" headed and adapted to enter any one of notches 65 in the periphery of the wheel 63 and lying between handgrip adjusting projections 66.

The bifurcated portion 61 has an elongated small width slot '67 in the top thereof and an elongated large width slot 68 in the bottom part thereof. A shaft 69 extends through the slots so that its enlarged diameter portlon 70 is slidable in the slot 68 and its small diameter' portion 71is slidable in the narrow slot 67. The ratchet wheel 63 is held on a squared section portion 72 of the shaft 69 and is held between the faces of the slot 62 by wear washers 73 and 74. The lower end of the shaft has a socket head 76 with a flange 77 and a ball detent 78. A retaining ring 79 is secured to the small diameter portion 71 of the shaft to hold the shaft in place from dropping downwardly through the bifurcated formation 61. I To operate this form of the wrench, the handle itself is simply slid into and off the ratchet wheel to lock the pin- 64 with the notches 65 thereof or to retract the same therefrom to permit free wheeling and hand turning of the 'wheel 63 by its projections 66. It will be seen that this wrench is durable and with the handle being made of one piece great force can be placed upon the handle and against the deep notches 65 of the wheel 63 to provide a solid wrench and at the same time a gearless, ratchet type wrench.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. to 13, 80 represents a knurled handle having an enlarged head 81 to which a U -shaped wheel-supporting member 82 is attached :by fastening screws 83 that enter holes 83' thereof. Thiswheel-supporting member has aligned openings 84 and 85 in which a squared shaft 86 is journalled. This shaft 86 carries a Wheel 87 that is secured thereto by a set screw 88. This Wheel 87 has a plurality of openings 89 in its periphery adapted to receive a ratchet latch pin 90 having a curved end face 91 thereon. Small drain holes 89 lead respectively from the respective openings 89 to permit the openings 89 to be easily cleaned. The shaft 86 has a socket head 92 with a detent 93 therein. This head has also a flange 94 adapted to engage the underface of the supporting member 82.

The ratchet pin 90 has an extension 96 that extends through a hole 97 in the handle. A compression spring '98 surrounds the extension 96 and reacts from a shoulder '99 against the ratchet pin 90 to hold the same in forward biasing engagement with any of the holes 89 in the wheel 87. On the end of the handle 80, is a transverse slot 100 into which may be fitted a projection 101 of an adjusting handle 102 that is secured by set screws 103 and 104 by the outer end of the extension 96. This adjusting knob can be used to pull the ratchet pin from the opening 89 in wheel 87 and by turning the knob the projection 101 can be registered in a small neutral recess 105, FIG. 11, extending across the end of the handle 80 at an angle of ninety degrees from the slot whereby to hold the latch out of engagement with the wheel and in its retracted or neutral position. The knob can be turned to one side or the other of this small recess to place this curved surface 91 of the ratchet pin 99 either to one side or the other of a hole 89 in the wheel 87 so as to permit the ratcheting of the ratchet pin in the holes 89 of the wheel in one direction or the other. When the ratchet pin 90 is held in its retracted position the wheel 87 can be freely turned by hand to loosen or hand tighten the nut or bolt.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. l4, l5 and 16, there is shown a still further form of the invention in which represents a knurled handle having an enlarged head portion 111 to which a U-shaped wheel supporting member 112 is attached by its top and bottom portions 114 and 113 and four fastening rivets 115. This wheel supporting member 112 has a closed end 116 within which wheel 117 is disposed. This wheel 117 has a plurality of ratchet openings 118 and a depending hub portion 119. A squared shaft 120 extends through the hub portion 119 and the wheel is held against axial displacement thereon by a set screw 121 that is carried on the hub portion 119 and is accessible by a screwdriver that may be extended through any one of the holes 118. The shaft 120 has a flange 122 that engages a washer 122' that lies against the surface 114 and from this flange there extends a square head 123 with a ball detent 124 therein and on which a socket adaptor can be placed. Spacing washers 125 and 126 are disposed on the shaft and lie below and above the wheel 117. Extending through the head 111 of the handle 110 is a central opening 127 in which a ratchet pin 128 is slidable and normally urged to its forward position by a compression spring 129. This ratchet pin has an end face rounded from one side as shown at 130 to permit the pin 128 to ratchet out of the openings 118 as turning movement is effected in a direction opposite to the tightening of loosening direction. The pin 128 has an operating member 131 with a knob 132 that extends upwardly through a slot 133 that is undercut to provide a dog leg portion 133' into which the operating member can extend when it is turned at right angles from either side of a neutral abutment 134 to position the rounded end 130 of the ratchet pin 128 to one side or the other of the openings 118 in the wheel 117. The ratchet pin 128 will automatically ratchet in the direction desired to take up the space for the next turning movement. If it is desired that free wheel turning be effected this can be done by registering the operating member 131 with the shoulder 134 of the slot 133. This permits the wheel 117 to be turned free of the ratchet pin as when initially tightening or finally loosening a bolt or nut.

It should now be apparent that in all forms of the invention the sides of the wheel project adequately outwardly.

It is also apparent that there has been provided a reversible ratchet wheel socket wrench that provides for a solid engagement with a Wheel without danger of gear teeth being stripped as with standard type ratchet wrenches.

While various changes may be made in the detailed construction, it shall be understood that such changes shall be Within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A gearless, reversible ratchet wheel socket wrench comprising a handle having a bifurcated ratchet wheelsupporting formation with a set of axially-aligned openings extending therethrough, one opening of the set being of larger diameter than the diameter of the other opening, a ratchet handgrip wheel means lying in the bifurcated Wheel-supporting formation and extending outwardly beyond the sides thereof for hand turning, said ratchet handgrip Wheel means including a notched handgrip wheel and a shaft extending through said openings in the bifurcated wheel-supporting formation, said pivot shaft having a square central portion adapted to be assembled through the large diameter opening for driving engagement with the notched handgrip Wheel and an enlarged diameter portion to fill said larger diameter opening in the bifurcated wheel-supporting formation to support the handgrip wheel within the bifurcated formation, said pivot shaft further having a head adapted to detachably receive a wrench socket and held against the underface of the handle bifurcated formation, and a reduced diameter portion extending through and above the top face of the handle bifurcated formation, a retaining ring fixed to the reduced diameter portion of the shaft upon the top face to hold the shaft and the handgrip wheel within the bifurcated formation, said bifurcated wheel-supporting formation having a further set of axially-aligned openings longitudinally spaced from the first mentioned set of axially aligned openings, ratchet pin means on the latter set of openings on the handle for engaging the peripheral notches of the ratchet handgrip Wheel to lock the handgrip wheel to the handle, one of said sets of axially-aligned openings being longi tudinally elongated to permit one of said means to be longitudinally slidable to lock the ratchet handgrip wheel means to the ratchet pin means and handle for wrench action.

2. A gearless, reversible ratchet wheel socket wrenchcomprising a handle having a bifurcated wheel-supporting formation with one set of axially aligned openings extending therethrough, a pivot shaft journalled in said openings, a notched ratchet handgrip Wheel fixed to the pivot shaft within the bifurcated portion and extending outwardly beyond the sides thereof for hand turning, said handle bifurcated portion having another set of axially-aligned openings longitudinally spaced from the first set of openings, said latter set of openings being elongated, a ratchet pin means extending through the elongated set of openings and adapted to engage the notches of the ratchet handgrip wheel when extended in the elongated openings toward the handgrip wheel, said ratchet pin means including a slide plate overlying the top face of the bifurcated formation and extending downwardly upon the sides thereof to be guided thereby, said slide plate having longitudinally-spaced holes, said bifurcated formation having ball detent means engageable with either of said holes of the slide plate to hold the ratchet pin means in its wheel engaged and retracted positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 466,232 Harper et a1 Dec. 29, 1891 719,645 Carlhime Feb. 3, 1903 766,577 Ansorge Aug. 2, 1904 974,121 Case Nov. 1, 1910 1,214,423 Casper Jan. 30, 1917 1,413,243 Thompson Apr. 18, 1922 1,422,121 Millen July 11, 1922 1,670,214 Roche May 15, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 190,349 Great Britain Dec. 21, 1922 276,806 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1951 136,105 Switzerland Jan. 2, 1930 

